The cat that got the strawberries and cream
by LemonSherbet
Summary: Ichigo has left home in time to start University but his father makes sure that he doesn't go alone. Neko!Aizen...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The idea for this just wouldn't leave me alone so I had to write it even though I've got a few sequels/ updates to write, and I still can't stop laughing whenever I picture Aizen. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach.

Warnings: Swearing, yaoi and Neko!Aizen (This may cause death by laughter from mental images- you have been warned)

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><p><em>Finally. <em>With one last heave the final box was in place. The hallway was filled with boxes ready to be unpacked into the modest apartment, labelled for various rooms and with varying degrees of caution.

Ichigo had chosen freedom at the earliest opportunity, escaping from the loony bin that had been his home under the pretence that it was closer to the university that he was about to enrol in, which it was but at that point all that mattered was getting out. Not that he didn't love his family; he just wanted blessed _peace _and a chance to be by himself once in a while.

The apartment that he had chosen was a small affair but cheerily decorated with a total of four rooms; his new bedroom, spare bedroom-turned-study, bathroom and the hallway/ living room/ dining area/ kitchen. Small but cosy. He'd been able to save up for the rent by helping out at his father's clinic, and only recently starting his new job as a waiter. Both had been tiring but at least the pay was good.

Grateful that there were no more boxes to haul, he made his way to the kitchen and began to stock the fridge with the food parcels Yuzu had piled on him. _Probably keep me going for a few weeks. _Deciding it was time for a well earned break Ichigo grabbed a bottle of water and moved to throw himself down on the lone chair in the living space, the only piece of furniture that had arrived apart from his bed.

Halfway through the drink Ichigo could hear faint noises, getting closer and louder and soon it was a rhythmic banging. Smirking to himself as he worked out what, or rather who was making the racket. Soon cries of 'Ichigoooooo!' could be heard from where he was sitting and the smirk grew. _One...Two...Three. _BANG! Trust the man to throw himself onto the door.

Chuckling to himself the young man walked slowly to the fridge once more and put away his drink for later. Then, equally slowly, he strolled over to his front door and sighed as his mirth was quickly replaced with irritation as the cries got louder and louder. Frown in place he opened the door, just as his father decided he would be off breaking it down.

Ichigo turned to look at the dishevelled heap in his apartment only to come face to face with his father's fist which he dodged again with ease before getting a hit of his own. _Stupid bloody father. What happened to peace? _

"_Ichigoo." _His father whined and Ichigo fought hard not bare his teeth in annoyance.

"What do you want old man?"

Isshin started to sob. "All, hic, I wanted, sob, was to see my precious son, glub, all grown up and living on his own! Hic, Misaki! Our son has left the nest!" To Ichigo's surprise and faint horror, the man had already plastered a poster of his mother on the wall and had attached himself to it. Sure he loved looking at his mom's photo, just preferably a smaller one. In a frame.

Turning away from the sight he stopped as noticed the piles of boxes, not his own, that were next to his front door, which had been left open in the excitement. From what he could see a few of them were labelled; 'Food', 'Clothes', 'Toys' , 'Treats'. _Huh? Toys and treats? What the hell is the old man doing with them? _

It was then that Ichigo saw _him. _

"Umm, Dad?" Catching his father's attention Ichigo sent a short jab of his head towards the male that was currently standing just outside of his doorway. "What's going on, or rather, what did you do?"

Isshin once more broke down into tears. "Don't you trust me?" Ichigo merely looked at him and the tears soon dried up. Detaching himself from the poster of his dead wife, Isshin trotted over to stranger and clapped him on the back.

"Well Ichigo it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Aizen Sosuke. He'll be staying with you as soon as we get the papers signed. He's going to keep you company when you get lonely without me and keep you safe from all the bad men out there!" He broke off with a grin and looked round for the applause he had been expecting.

Instead all he got was the intelligent reply from his son, "Huh?" In all honesty the man didn't look as though he could save him from the supposed 'bad men'. True the man was around 6"1, if he was any judge, and he did seem to be nicely built, but all in all he appeared to be very, well, _mild. _The wavy brown hair and kind eyes of the same colour, hidden by glasses, spoke of quiet afternoons rather than keeping innocent teenagers safe in a fight.

It didn't help though that every time that he looked at the man Ichigo wanted to laugh. On top of the man's head were two white cat ears, soft and turned down slightly, and behind the man a pristine white tail moved slowly. It looked absolutely ridiculous and out of place on the male, but Ichigo couldn't silence the voice that urged him to find out Aizen would react if he stroked the ears. They did look really soft.

Trapped in his musings he realised too late that he had been caught staring as his father smirked at him and the man beside him smiled. _Shit. _Ichigo's face glowed red and started coughing in embarrassment.

"So, uh, I mean, what _exactly_ did you do?"

Pouting, his father moved over to the boxes and stated routing around the top one, marked 'Paperwork'. With a cry of glee he held up his hand, in it a pile of sheets, and made his way over to Ichigo.

"See!" He thrust the paperwork in front of his son. "These are the adoption papers for Aizen," He sent a little wave over at the man, "and as soon as you sign them then you'll be his owner! All the boxes are his stuff and anything he might need. His bed should get here tomorrow."

It finally dawned on Ichigo what his father had been telling him. "You want me to adopt him. And live with me." His father nodded enthusiastically.

"Well you have the room and otherwise your sisters and I would have been sooooo worried about you! And Aizen here is wonderful, everyone at the adoption centre said so. You'll have no problems getting along."

"It's not like I can't take care of myself." Ichigo grumbled.

Whimpering his father replied, "So you're just going to throw the poor kitty back on the streets? How cruellll!"

Groaning in defeat Ichigo grabbed the papers from his father and went in search of a pen.

"Where do I sign?" Gleefully his father pointed out all the spaces.

"Well then I'll be off to let you two get to know each other. Byeeeeee." And so Ichigo's father skipped off into the distance.

Shutting the door with a slam Ichigo turned to look once more at the neko-hybrid that would now be staying with him. A few decades ago the new breed had turned up on the black market and proved popular. The scientist who had created them, Szayel Grantz, had only been in it for the fame and fortune and spared no mercy for the beings he created. Soon though activists made their disgust of the poor treatment known and the government was forced to look at the issue. Years of hard work finally liberated the hybrids and their creator was sent to rot in prison.

The neko-hybrid themselves were viewed as the half way point between a pet and a human being. You could adopt one, but not 'buy', and matters of abuse were taken very seriously. They had the right to reject an owner or to say no to unreasonable demands as they saw fit. They had the basic human rights and could be sent to school if they so wished. And now Ichigo had one living with him.

Scratching his head Ichigo went to introduce himself. "Umm hi, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and it means 'one who protects' and _not _'strawberry' as some people like to believe. Sorry 'bout my dad, he's urgh..." He gestured with his hands to try and explain his father as words certainly couldn't.

The man opposite slowly let his eyes travel the length of the younger's body and leisurely brought them back up again. With a small smile he took of his glasses and placed them on the boxes, then shook his hair, a strand falling between his eyes. Without breaking eye contact with Ichigo he stalked over to the younger male, the smile morphing to a smirk, and leant towards the other's ear.

Ichigo shivered slightly as a hot breath ghosted over his ear, and sensing this Aizen chuckled to himself before saying,

"Nice to meet you, _Strawberry._"

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><p>It was a joke. It <em>had<em> to be. His father wouldn't really have made him adopt this, this, _demon_.

The week since he had signed those damned papers had been a nightmare as far as Ichigo was concerned. He had been forced to give up on his bedroom, relinquishing it to the bloody cat and so was forced to sleep in the study (never mind that it was supposed to be a bedroom anyway- it was the principle of the thing). As for the rest of his stuff, well it seemed as though Aizen lived by the motto 'What's yours is mine and what's mine is also mine.' He hadn't seen his beloved laptop for the better part of two weeks and the sofa was a lost cause.

Then, of course, was the man's horrid personality. Around Ichigo he acted superior and demanding, because after all, "Dogs have masters, cats have servants Ichigo." Oh, but if someone else was around, family or friends, the man had a heart of pure gold, all smiles and kindness so nobody would believe him when he told them the horror stories. Infuriating!

The only redeeming aspect of the whole thing was that Aizen was a fabulous cook and even Ichigo had begrudgingly accepted that the man could give Yuzu a run for her money. He had been surprised to learn that the older man could cook, a part of him had expected him to live of tinned tuna, but if he wasn't careful Aizen would only cook fish if he had half a chance.

Maybe not the worst nightmare he'd had then.

Thankfully classes hadn't started yet, and so he wasn't forced to share his attention between work and the cat. Strangely, despite his harsh words and actions Aizen seemed to be very attached to 'his strawberry' as the hybrid put it. He would follow Ichigo around the apartment freely touching and clinging on to the orange-haired male, and when his hands were batted away he would sneak his tale up to snake around the other's shoulders. Annoying at home, excruciatingly embarrassing in public, which meant Aizen did it at every opportunity.

Ichigo had had to resort to having locks being put on his room and the bathroom after Aizen had tried to follow the younger male into them. Now way in hell was Ichigo sleeping and god forbid _showering_ with him. Aizen may have been half cat (demon) but he was steadily becoming more aware that he was still a man. A tall, muscled, good looking man- not that Ichigo would admit it.

The hybrid was also a man of few words, and when he wasn't pestering Ichigo or cooking he would hole himself away in his bedroom doing god knows what, and emerging some time later with a superior and smug look saying he knew something that Ichigo didn't. The conversations that they did have were short and clipped and often left Ichigo confused. For example:

"So, Strawberry." Aizen had continued to use the name knowing that it riled up the other. Ichigo's reactions were always the best. "What are you going to do with your life?"

"My name's Ichigo." The other snarled through gritted teeth. "And why do you care?"

"Well we are going to be together for a long time."

"Don't remind me. Just don't. But if you really wanted to know I plan on being a policeman. To help people ya know?"

"That so." And there the conversation ended with Ichigo feeling oddly let down by the response.

The only time Aizen seemed to let go of the holier than thou persona was when the two were playing. The box marked 'Toys' had turned out to contain a Wii and various games and controllers to go with it. Both of the men loved it but the problem was they were both deathly competitive.

At night neighbours could hear roars of "Bastard get out of my way!", "You fucking cheated!", "What the hell was that?" and finally the joyful laughter of the winner for the night, followed by choking noises as they were strangled. It was a miracle the police hadn't been called.

Unfortunately for Ichigo the other man had more experience of the games than him, and often used his tail to distract the younger male, and so he lost more times than he won. However he kept playing as that was the only time that he felt the other wasn't looking down on him, until he screwed up of course.

But that was that and _this, _well he wasn't quite sure of what to make of this.

The two had just finished dinner and as per routine Ichigo went to finish the dishes and Aizen to make desert. That night they were planning on chocolate cake with cream; their arteries may harden but what a delicious way to go.

At last there was only one more cup to put away and Aizen was just to put the cream on the generous slabs of cake. Reaching up high the younger male struggled to put the cup in the correct place. Finally he did it, but at the expense of stretching himself too far forward.

With a yelp he fought to stay on his feet but it was a losing battle as he toppled other. In a crash of limbs he knocked into Aizen and together they fell to the floor.

"Ow! Owowowowowow!" Glaring up at the man above him as if it were Aizen's fault, the orange haired male rubbed at the back of his head where there was surely going to be a bump. It was then though that he realised the compromising position that he was in. The older man's heavy frame pinned him down, their legs entwined and their inches faces apart as Ichigo watched the man lick his lips.

Then he noticed the other, more sticky problem.

"Damn it Aizen! I'm bloody well covered in cream!"

The man didn't even have the decency to look sorry and instead chuckled. "It was you who crashed into me while I was holding the tub of cream. Not the other way around."

Ichigo scowled. "I don't care! I'm covered in the stuff..." He trailed of as his eyes followed the older man's tongue as he once again licked his lips. Unconsciously Ichigo copied the movement causing the other man to smirk and the young man to blush heavily.

"You know you're right. You _are _covered. It would be such a shame to let that go to waste wouldn't it?" Before Ichigo could answer, or even understand the question, a coarse, warm tongue was suddenly on his cheek, lapping up the cream.

Struggling Ichigo said, "Don't you dare. Get. Off. Me."

Pausing his tongue's ministrations to the other man's neck, Aizen sent a growl towards Ichigo warning him to stop moving. Finally submitting after he realised that he wasn't going anyway, Ichigo was left to admit to himself that he actually kind of enjoyed the experience, not that he'd tell Aizen that he had a sinfully wicked tongue though. Even if it did turn him into a pile of goo.

In a state of bliss Ichigo didn't even register the other man taking off his top, and how the tongue had turned into sharp nips and fleeting kisses. He did, however, break off with a strangled cry as they found his nipple, surprising the orange-haired male with his own sensitivity. His whole body seemed to be on fire as the man marked and teased his skin. It all seemed too much and yet not enough.

It was then that the hybrid went in for the kill.

"Ahhh! Aizen!" With a cry Ichigo arched his back as a pure white tail snaked its way into the younger man's trousers and found Ichigo's length. With sure, steady strokes the tail turned Ichigo into a trembling mess as Aizen went to whisper in his ear, just like the time that they first met,

"Sosuke. Call me Sosuke. _Ichigo." _Paying extra attention to the lobe the older man had his owner moaning broken forms of his name as he brought him closer to completion, his mouth moving to cover Ichigo's in an attempt to drink in the moans and gasps for himself.

With a muffled moan Ichigo came, the tail stroking till the end. With easy movements Sosuke moved back a little from the young man, but not without a kiss first. Retracting his tail the trousers he brought his tail up for inspection. Eyeing the dripping tail with a smirk he turned to Ichigo.

"Looks like I missed a spot." He then proceeded to clean his tail, all the while keeping eye contact with the exhausted younger male.

"Delicious."

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><p>With a sigh Ichigo trudged up the stairs to his apartment. Classes had just started and so far the work and his damned cat had kept him drained of energy. It was a relief to be back at the apartment, if he was lucky he could get a few hours of sleep before Sosuke demanded his attention.<p>

Ah yes. Sosuke. Their relationship hadn't really changed but now all the touches seemed to mean something, and that both scared and excited Ichigo, but so far nothing of note had happened since the cream incident. The young man had learnt to ignore the part of him that was disappointed.

Finally reaching his door he went to open the door but for some reason the key wouldn't fit. He tried a few times but soon gave up in favouring of knocking the door in the hope that Sosuke would let him in. The door did open but it wasn't Sosuke standing there, but instead a small elderly woman.

"Huh?"

"Oh you must be the young man they told me about. I'm afraid you don't live here anymore dearer but the nice gentleman left a letter for you."

After handing over the letter and saying goodbye the old woman closed the door leaving Ichigo confused and angry. Ripping open the letter he found a code and an address. _Sosuke. That bastard better have a good explanation for this. _

Wasting no time Ichigo grabbed a map from the reception area and stomped all the way to the new address. It turned out to be for a new apartment block close to his university, the type only the rich and famous could afford.

Frowning to himself Ichigo stormed through the entrance, a pristine affair screaming wealth, towards the elevator, the letter had specified that he went to the penthouse apartment. The short wait was tense for Ichigo and he jumped as a small ring announced that he had stopped. The doors opened onto the top floor, where there was only one door.

With nothing to lose Ichigo jabbed the code into a panel near the door, but was still surprised to find that it opened the door for him. His anger replaced with the fear of the unknown he cautiously stepped into the huge apartment, to come face to face with Sosuke.

Gritting his teeth he barked, "Damn it what did you do?"

Sosuke smiled. Not smirked but actually smiled. Something he would never do when he wasn't playing nice. "I bought this place, with my own money of course, and had all our stuff moved here. It's even closer to school and is bigger and overall nicer. I do, after all, prefer to live in luxury."

Momentarily stumped Ichigo finally retaliated with, "But how the hell did you afford this place? It must cost a fortune."

Sosuke did smirk then. "Do you remember all those times when I went into my room with the laptop?"

Ichigo scowled. "Yes and?"

"Well it just so happens that I play the stock market as a small hobby. I happen to be rather good at it." Ichigo's mouth hung open at the revelation as the older man continued on. "So this means that you're leaving in _my _home bought with _my_ money and therefore we go by _my _rules. Understand?"

When no reply was offered he laughed softly to himself before strolling over to the young man and suddenly lifted him up bridal style. Keeping hold of the struggling male he headed towards the master bedroom and threw Ichigo down onto the soft sheets.

"Rule no. 1. We'll sleep together in this bed. Rule no. 2. You'll let me go in the shower with you. Rule no. 3. No door is ever to be locked except the front door. Finally, for now, rule no. 4. You'll let me touch you."

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><p>AN: Plot bunnies really are strange things... Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: It pains me to admit this but no I do not own bleach.

Warning: Tweeny weeny lemon in this one folks, I mean seriously small-blink and you'll miss it.

Enjoy!

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><p>Frustration was no stranger to Ichigo. It had bled through his emotions across the years, every time someone took a swing at him for his hair, his sexuality. It had been hammered into him every time he was too weak to save someone, to stop their tears. But this, well this just took the freaking biscuit.<p>

He'd checked. Checked again. And every time he looked he still had all the necessary parts to be a male, and yet it took just one bleeding cat to crush his male pride in seconds. His flat which he had slaved over for years had been sold, his furniture all gone without his knowledge, and now he was no better than a kept woman. Damn cat.

He watched with a sickening sense of defeat at the man's smirk as he flicked that, that _thing _towards him, and did the only thing he could think of. He snarled.

"Get that freaking thing away from me!" Aizen merely laughed off the red heads demands and instead trailed the thin strip of leather across the fuming boy's cheek, enjoying the shiver that it produced.

"Now, now Ichigo." He purred, "We both know that it's easier to just do as I say." He paused. Smirked. "Although it could be interesting to punish you for your disobedience." Ichigo gaped open-mouthed at the hybrid that was currently stretched out on to of him. With a feline grace Aizen ran his fingers softly up the boy's neck to curl around his chin and forced his mouth shut.

_Just breathe, yeah now close your eyes and it'll just be a dream. Just a dream. _Annoyed at the boy's attempted at ignoring him, Aizen nipped the soft skin of the throat laid before him in warning, smiling as Ichigo's breath hitched. Chuckling he let his breath fan over the face of the male below him, tracing the air around his features until resting just above the boy's lips. Slowly, ever so slowly, he felt the boy tremble and crumble. Ichigo may be stubborn but Aizen had long ago mastered the art of patience.

Wait...just about...ah. There. The deepening of the scowl, the slight pout and finally the lowering of the bright expressive eyes. Aizen smirked in victory. Ichigo watched on apprehensively as the leather trailed down from his cheek to his neck, narrowly stopping himself from crossing his eyes.

The leather strap lay loose on him as the hybrid slinked up his body to tower over him and, with a foreign gentleness, Aizen lifted up Ichigo's head from the pillows. Then with a small smile he clicked the strap into place.

Ichigo sighed.

The collar was already itchy.

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><p>Huffing for the gazillionth time that day, the orange haired male gazed own in defeat at the open text book in front of him. At the time it had seemed like a good idea; get out of the apartment, find a spot at campus, find coffee, revise. However, he was beginning to learn that plans aren't worth anything, not for him anyway.<p>

Sure he'd gotten the coffee, found a place outside to sit (he'd spent far too long cooped up in that damn apartment) and had opened his books to begin. What he hadn't bargained on was the algebra dancing around the page hurting his head- he'd avoided taking English studies for a reason...Then there was the minute flinching every time someone walked past, his hands desperate to cover his neck that was already wrapped up in a very unseasonable scarf. But what he really hadn't thought of was that his bright hair, glistening in the sun, would act as a strong beacon to his friends who happened to be passing by, and now he was trapped.

Growling, he threw his text book down next to him, finally giving up on his fruitless effort- he'd just get it done later, maybe wait for Aizen to fall asleep. Ichigo let his body slowly let himself slowly relax against the tree trunk conveniently behind, enjoying the feeling of the tension draining away as he returned to join in with his friends that had camped beside him.

At the moment the loudest of them all, Renji, had his head thrown back with his equally bright hair spilling down his back, a barking laugh echoing deep from inside his chest. Rukia was giggling into her hand and Inoue sported a blush from the tip of her ears to lord knows where, while Ishida, portraying disinterest, was sneaking looks at Inoue, probably picturing where the blush did indeed end.

Next to Ichigo was Chad, silent and stoic as ever but if you knew where to look, the orange haired man knew, you could just see the corners of his mouth crinkling upwards and a lighter expression than normal. Ichigo didn't really understand when he described it as being lighter, it just fit really and his instincts were rarely wrong.

Furthest away from Ichigo was another feline hybrid, a natural fighter with the personality to match his cocky grin, but at odds with the bright blue tufts he had for ears. It had taken awhile for Grimm and Ichigo to finally put the gauntlets down but it had been worth the growing friendship-they had each others' backs. _Although_, Ichigo mused, _Grimm's back probably belongs to Ulquiorra, especially if those looks those two are sharing are anything to go by. _Ulquiorra was there with Grimm as always, but their lanky male friend Starkk was nowhere to be seen, most likely still in bed, and Nel was probably playing tag with the track team. She always won.

Trapped in his musings Ichigo failed to notice the laughter dying down and Renji's eyes boring a hole in his scarf in confusion and faint amusement.

"Oi, Ichi!"

"Huh? What?" Ichigo blinked as he resurfaced and turned to look towards the source of the shout. "Renji?"

Renji chuckled. "What's up with the scarf? Not hiding any love bites are me are ya?" He waggled his eyebrows at his friend who was now sporting a blush deeper than Inoue.

"I'm not hiding love bites Renji!" He answered truthfully. "My neck's cold is all." _And so the lying begins. _Yeah, he and Renji were close, but he really didn't want the other to know that he had been by his own damn cat.

Renji snorted and Rukia decided to pick up where her best friend had left off. "You're never cold Ichigo- not even in winter! And you don't like scarves either!"

"Jeez Rukia it's not like I can't have a change of opinion." He then shrugged his shoulders hoping they would drop it. He had no such luck as Grimm who, while he wouldn't harm Ichigo, loved teasing him and the hybrid could smell tease material room miles away.

"It might not be love bites but you're hiding something Berry. Now spill the beans before I get Nel on your case." Grimm's smirk tired to eat his face as he noticed Ichigo's eyes widen in anger over the nickname and pure, unadulterated fear over someone telling Nel. The girl just couldn't let things go.

Yet Ichigo stubbornly refused to do anything and soon the smirk was draining from the blue haired hybrid until he couldn't handle his curiosity anymore. In a blur of blue he pounced onto Ichigo and together they rolled on the grass, the others watching with raised eyebrows and laying bets. After a short struggle Grimmjow triumphantly raised the scarf above his head and Ishida actually smiled as he collected his winnings from his grumbling friends.

Grimm pushed his hand towards the smaller male beneath him but froze as he took in the sight of the secret the berry had tried so damn hard to keep a secret.

"Well damn Ichi, never figured you for the type." Ichigo merely groaned and looked away as his friends gathered around to stare at the simple yet elegant band adorning his neck, while he was still trapped beneath Grimm.

Most of the eyebrows present rose beyond their hairline and there were a few muffled giggles and coos, but Renji drew his eyebrows together in all seriousness.

"Anyway Kurosaki," Ishida input, "if you don't like it to the extent that you are forced to wear the scarves that you hate so much, why don't you just take it off?"

"Well, um,"

Grimm snorted. "Ain't it obvious? Berry here doesn't _want_ to take it off, just doesn't want anyone else to see."

Ishida frowned at the blue haired man, and Ichigo lamented the fact that his legs were going numb because of said man's weight. "Since when were you such an expert?" Grimmjow let out more of a growl than a snort this time round, but was stopped from answering by the soft reply of Ulquiorra.

"He happens to know quite a bit, he grew up around collars." Ishida merely turned away with a huff, but not without sparing one last calculating look in Ichigo's direction.

"Grimm."

"Yeah Berry?"

"You're killing my legs."

"Oh." Chuckling to himself Grimmjow rolled himself off of Ichigo and instead laid down beside him. "But the glasses freak does kinda have a point, why don't you take it off?"

Ichigo shrugged, knowing that while the other couldn't see it, he could feel it. "Don't know how to get it off."

This seemed to be the last straw for the previously silent red head.

"It was him wasn't it? Aizen. God the nerve of that bastard! First he throws you out of the apartment and now this! This!" Renji gestured at the collar and slowly crawled forward to rest a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You don't have to put up with this, or anything Ichi. Not if you don't want it. I, we, can help. I even know a place where they re-home hybrids. Okay? Ichi?"

Closing his eyes Ichigo strove to find the answer. When he opened his eyes they could see the familiar conviction and strength.

He began, "I..."

* * *

><p>Ichigo quietly let himself into the apartment and softly padded across the room towards the study. Aizen had implied that he was going out so the young male was looking forward to peace and quiet.<p>

With a small thud the door closed behind him as he chucked his bags on to the bean bag that he had demanded. Well, if he was going to have to live in the apartment he was damn well going to have a say in the furniture. Aizen had sulked for a week, Ichigo recalled fondly, he'd enjoyed that week.

Chuckling to himself the young male failed to notice the raised goose bumps on his arm and the faint shivers that ran through him. Mistake number one. Swanning over to the desk in the pursuit of a decent pen, he plopped down into the chair and giggled (in a manly man manner) as it swung round. Mistake number two.

It came as a surprise then to Ichigo as the chair violently halted and he found himself boxed in by a pair of strong arms and equally strong chest. With a small squeak of surprise (maybe not so manly this time) Ichigo lifted his head to meet the deep brown eyes and raised eyebrow of his, erm, flatmate. Aizen's eyes never gave anything away but the eyebrow, well, that meant trouble and Ichigo had better start explaining.

"Umm hi. You're back. Early." The eyebrow got higher. "I mean I didn't think you would be back so I thought I'd do some work, because the professors are handing it out like there's no tomorrow but it's becoming hard to keep up with it all but I did do some work today but umm.." With an audible snap the orange-haired male stopped his babbling as the eyebrow disappeared into the other man's hair line and Aizen's nose twitched. Hang on. What?

Slowly but steadily the hybrid got closer to the trapped male and once again his nose twitched, almost imperceptibly.

"Aizen, wha-"

"Sosuke." He interrupted softly.

"Well Sosuke, are you smelling me?" This time in response to the question the eyebrow lowered right down and a warning growl issued in the back of the feline's throat.

"I'm afraid that's rather hard to do at the moment Ichigo with another hybrid's scent sprayed all over you." Not once did he raise his voice, but he didn't have to as Ichigo could feel the waves of irritation and anger rolling off him, almost suffocating the young male.

"We were just mucking around, he's a friend." Ichigo reasoned, trying to make the incensed hybrid see sense. "'Sides I think he's interested in Ulquiorra, and it seems like it's mutual, but I don't think anything's happened yet 'cos Grimm doesn't really like doing the talky bits and Ulquiorra likes to think he's above the baser human emotions so I.."

"You're babbling again."

Well. That was the last straw for the berry.

Grabbing onto the white tail flicking agitatedly near him, Ichigo yanked harshly and escaped from the chair a the brunet attended to his injuries.

"Why on Earth did you do that?" Sosuke practically hissed.

"No."

"No?" There went the eyebrow again.

"No, you do NOT get to be angry with me!" Sosuke frowned at the hurt and anger he sensed from Ichigo and the near-enough shouting but before he could get a word in edge ways Ichigo began again, speaking softly this time.

"You took my _home _away. You have a list of rules and I have to follow them as I don't have any where else to go unless I want to go back to my family and have a 10 hour commute to Uni every day. You always look down on me with that damn smirk or knowing eyes but you don't know bloody anything!"

Taking a breath to calm himself the young man turned his back on the hybrid who was soaking in his words.

"I never asked for this. It wasn't me who found you and brought you home. I had never even thought of getting a pet and if I had I would have gone for a bunny or something like that. Not you. I would never have chosen someone who can loom over you with barely a thought or could mess with your emotions with a flick of an ear. I _certainly _wouldn't have picked someone who likes to cuddle when we sleep and who only ever drinks tea if there's at least four teaspoons of sugar in it."

With his hand gripping to his hair Ichigo's ragged breathing tried to calm down before beginning again.

"My friends think I'm nuts. Why the hell would I want to stay with someone who had collared me? And what am I to tell them? Oh don't worry he just happens to be really possessive to the point he questions me about my damn smell! But it doesn't end there oh no. He has to buy a flat so I can be his live-in possession and my body's always covered in large red bites and he has to wrap a tail around me so I don't go anywhere! I mean, don't get me started about that damn tail. It always there, wrapped around my thigh, wrist and, and, anddowntherewhenwe'reonthebedbutnotsleeping ...oronanyavailablesurfaceanyway..."

A sigh. A slump of the shoulders. A tickle of breath on the neck. He struggled on in a soft voice.

"A friend of mine, Renji, thinks he can help me. Help me to get away from you and whatever it is that we have. He even offered to help get you re-adopted just so he could make sure I was ok."

A low growling noise rumbled next to his ear and slowly Ichigo turned to face him and look him squarely in the eye, taking in the flattened ears and the slight quiver of the upper lip.

"I said no."

Sosuke cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I said thanks but no thanks. That as crazy and as impossible as it sounds I'm happy, sort of, I suppose, it just takes some getting used to."

The next thing he knew he was crushed up against the older male's chest which was rumbling with what sounded suspiciously like purring. Burying his face into the crook of Sosuke's neck he finished his tirade with his eyes screwed shut.

"I wanna make this work. So you gotta let me in on the decision making."

He felt rather than saw the nodding. "And stop treating me as if you have to lock me up in a cage just so I can't leave you. Because I won't. Leave you that is. I can't 'cos I, I, I love you." He ended in barely a whisper yet the confession soaked there air between.

With a furry nudge to his chain Ichigo allowed the white tail to drag his head upwards to meet the soft lips of its owner. Its gentleness surprised Ichigo and the slight nips to his own lips had him melting against the hard body in front of him.

The tail then settled itself curled around the base of the Ichigo's neck, brushing against the delicate skin beneath the collar. It remained there even as the two broke off their kiss in order to breathe.

"You'll stay?" The vulnerability in his voice had Ichigo gasping in surprise.

"You won't be able to get rid of me."

The kiss this time was headier, heavier and _devouring_. In one smooth motion Ichigo found himself pressed between the hard lines of the desk and the equally hard lines of a very aroused hybrid, their lips never leaving the others. This lack of control and pure need pouring from Sosuke had the young male struggling against the buttons in front of him in his own need to feel skin.

Soon a few unfortunate buttons were sent flying throughout the room and hands met fiery skin and there was a deep growling next to Ichigo's ears that had his body thrumming.

"Want you." Ichi barely had time to register the husky tone before he was laid out on the desk and quick hands tugging at his clothes.

Clothes gave way to skin and skin was met by hands and hands were followed by teeth and tongue and tail. Down, down they went until Ichigo's body was a damned instrument for Sosuke to play and was heaving from the effort of holding on until, _oh dear Good Lord, _his world went blinding white.

Coming down from his euphoric high the orange-haired male found that Sosuke hadn't been sitting there idly waiting for him. Not if the twitching tail inside him was any indicator anyway.

And then the tail was just _there _and Sosuke was rewarded a breathy moan and the awakened interest of the young man's cock which was being worshipped by Sosuke's free hand, the other re-mapping Ichigo's body. Slowly the tail stroked his quivering insides until there was never enough air in his lungs and the hand at the base of his cock continuously denied his release.

It was then, when he had been reduced to a quivering, moaning wreck on the edge of begging that Sosuke finally pulled out his tail and with one quick thrust was fully settled in Ichigo. With another heartbreakingly warm kiss Sosuke began to rock smoothly, his tail replacing his hand on the young man's cock, his left hand buried in burnt orange locks and the other cupping Ichigo's face to keep the kiss going.

And once again it was becoming too much and the stars were blinding him and with that spot being abused he couldn't help but give in to it all as Sosuke made love to him, and with a hoarse cry of the hybrid's name, he came for the second time. It wasn't long after that he felt the male above tense and shudder, whispering into Ichigo's ear as his own climax overpowered him.

Ichigo's breath caught.

He smiled.

Who cared what anyone else thought if they saw the collar or the bite marks? He didn't. Not if he got to her that whispered into his ears every night.

Life was good.

_I love you. _


End file.
